Saturday, April 27, 2013

"This report provides information about federal and
private sector efforts to promote and support global Internet freedom and a
description of Internet freedom legislation and hearings from the 112th
Congress. Three appendixes suggest further reading on this topic and describe
censorship and circumvention technologies."

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Ever try to research old state statutes? Ever need to know
how the language changed over the years? Ever need a snapshot in time –
from a really long time ago?

Gallagher Law Library patrons have always been able to use
our rich historical collection of print state statutes. It’s quite something to
go down to the Compact Stacks on L2 and pull out an old code and find what you
need. We also have a collection of state session laws on microfiche and in
digital form on HeinOnline. And now Gallagher patrons have a fabulous new
source – HeinOnline’s State Statutes: A Historical Archive. It includes
superseded statutes for all fifty states, with coverage as far back as 1717.
The end dates seem to vary, but Washington State, for example starts with the
Code of 1881 and ends with the 1961 supplement to the 1951 Revised Code of
Washington. Not bad!

Sharp blog readers might ask, but . . . what about the Washington laws before 1881? We have the territorial session laws in print, of course, and Hein has them in the Session Laws Library. The key is to use both the Session Laws Library and the State Statutes Historical Archive.

A manager of a Victoria’s Secret store in Puyallup was injured this weekend when she was attacked by three women stealing brassieres! After the women grabbed approximately 150 bras and ran away, the store manager attempted to stop the thieves and was punched in the face and sprayed with "an unknown substance". (The substance was probably not one of the famous lingerie chain's fragrance mists.)
The thieves have not yet been apprehended but are now being referred to as "bra bandits." Some speculate that the bra bandits will sell their stolen booty on eBay; but no speculation is needed when determining that the bandits are undeterred by the possibility that Victoria's Secret lingerie causes injury. Several years ago, a Los Angeles traffic cop sued Victoria's Secret after a metal fixture on a rhinestone allegedly popped off her Victoria's Secret thong and scratched her cornea. The injured's attorney was applauded by making the "thong malfunction," "sound as exciting as a scholarly discussion of pea gravel." Feel free to watch an interview of the attorney and the injured below or check out the filed complaint here.

Though the 2008 lawsuit was dismissed in 2009, it appears that Victoria's Secret lingerie may still pose a risk of injury...to unfortunate store managers who attempt to stop bra bandits.
Photo Credit: www.victoriassecret.comVideo Credit: www.today.com

Friday, April 19, 2013

If the Gallagher staff were all sitting around reading for
fun, what would that look like?What do
we currently have in our bags, on our bedside tables, and on the floor of our cars? What have we checked out from the library, borrowed from friends,
or bought this week?Not (necessarily) our
best-loved books or the one we can't wait for someone else to read. And not
(necessarily) the most obscure or impressive. Just this – as a staff, what does our current
pile of books look like?

May is bicycle month, and to kick it off, Cascade Bicycle Club is hosting the Commute Challenge!

Riders participate in the Commute Challenge for a variety of reasons. The challenge is great for new riders, providing the support and structure to make the transition to cycling smooth, easy and fun. Experienced cyclists often relish the competition that comes with tracking trips and the chance to convince coworkers to ride.Participants can either ride solo or form a team. Teams are a great way to encourage brand new bike commuters while challenging experienced bike commuters.
To learn more about how to sign up, form a team, and win prizes, visithttp://commutechallenge.cascade.org/

The Commute Challenge also provides resources to help you, including bike maps, resources for learning about local and state bike and traffic laws, and tips for combining a bus ride with your cycling commute! If you're new to commuting on your bike, this is a great opportunity to learn skills and enjoy support.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

It is true that many people who work in libraries love to
read books. We read in a variety of genres and in all sorts of formats. We read
e-books, pristine new print books, and ratty old used paperbacks bought with
cash from independent bookstores. At work, we blog about books and libraries
and even bookmobiles. National Library Week is a perfect excuse for a blog post
about one of my favorite things: the book podcast. Reading is personal, and so
is podcast listening. These are just of few of my favorites.

Books on the Nightstand is a project of two friends and
colleagues who work in the publishing industry. Book reviews and behind the
scenes chats about the business.

At long last, the voting for our Second Annual Peepshow Contest is now open to anyone with a UW NetID. The voting will end at 5:00 pm on Sunday the 21st and the winners will be announced on Monday the 22nd.

Remember, the first place winner in each category will score a UW Bookstore gift card so make people happy and vote!

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

The 2013 Pulitzer Prizes were announced earlier this week. (April 15 NY Times story is here.)
The winner for General Nonfiction is Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America, by Gilbert King. The publisher's page says this book

is a gripping true story of racism, murder, rape, and the law. It brings to
light one of the most dramatic court cases in American history, and offers a
rare and revealing portrait of Thurgood Marshall that the world has never seen
before.

As Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns did for the story of
America’s black migration, Gilbert King’s Devil in the Grove does for
this great untold story of American legal history, a dangerous and uncertain
case from the days immediately before Brown v. Board of Education in which the
young civil rights attorney Marshall risked his life to defend a boy slated for
the electric chair—saving him, against all odds, from being sentenced to death
for a crime he did not commit.

It's in the law library: HV9956.G76 K56 2012 at Classified Stacks.

Lincoln's Code: The Laws of War in American History, by John Fabian Witt, was a finalist in the history category. It also won the Bancroft Prize for history. The publisher's page says:

In this pathbreaking and deeply original book, John Fabian Witt tells the hidden story of the laws of war in the first century of the United States–and of the extraordinary code that emerged from it to change the course of world history. Lincoln’s Code is the haunting and inspiring story of an idea in American history: the idea that conduct in war can be regulated by law. For many, the very idea of a law for war has seemed like an oxymoron. But with sweep and vitality, Witt unfolds the story of the cast of characters who invented the modern laws of war.